The True Citizen, How To Become One | Page 8

incite us to do our best. "The head of Hercules," says Ruskin, "was
always represented as covered with a lion's skin, with the claws joining
under the chin, to show that when we had conquered our misfortunes
they became a help to us."
One of the greatest hindrances to obedience is a false pride. The
thought of living under the will and direction of another is exceedingly
unpleasant, and where such a pride bears rule in the heart, a cheerful
obedience is almost an impossibility. We often fail to obey simply
because we are unwilling to acknowledge ourselves in the wrong.
Obedience is also hindered by ignorance. One of our commonest errors
is that which teaches that authority is always pleasant, and submission
always painful. The actual experiences of life prove that the place of
command is usually a position of great anxiety, while the place of
obedience is generally one of ease and freedom from care.
Indolence also opposes obedience. In our selfish love of ease we allow
duties to go undone until the habit of disobedience becomes almost
unnoticeable; but when we find ourselves compelled to resist it, we
then discover that to break away from its power is one of the hardest
tasks we can be called upon to perform.
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
A very striking example of prompt and unquestioning obedience is
furnished us in that famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaclava,
during the Crimean War, of which you have all doubtless heard. A

series of engagements between the Russians on the one side, and the
English and their allies on the other side, took place near this little town,
on October 25, 1854. The Russians were for a time victorious, and at
last threatened the English port of Balaclava itself. The attack was
diverted by a brilliant charge of the Heavy Brigade, led by General
Scarlett. Then, through a misunderstanding of the orders of Lord
Raglan, the commander-in-chief, Lord Cardigan was directed to charge
the Russian artillery at the northern extremity of the Balaclava valley
with the Light Brigade, then under his command.
Lord Cardigan was an exceedingly unpopular officer, and greatly
disliked by all his men, But no sooner was the order given than, with a
battery in front of them, and one on either side, the Light Brigade
hewed its way past these deadly engines of war and routed the enemy's
cavalry. Of the six hundred and seventy horsemen who made the
charge, only one hundred and ninety-eight returned. As an act of war it
was madness. In the opinion of the most competent judges there was no
good end to be gained by it. But as an act of soldierly obedience it was
sublime. The deed has been immortalized by the poet Tennyson in the
following verses:
I. Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley
of Death Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge
for the guns!" he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
II. "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho'
the soldier knew Some one had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of
Death Rode the six hundred.
III. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of
them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell Boldly they
rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the
six hundred.
IV. Flash'd all their sabers bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air Sabring the
gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke, Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack

and Russian Reel'd from the saber-stroke Shattered and sunder'd. Then
they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.
V. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind
them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While
horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of
Death Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of
six hundred.
VI. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the
world wonder'd. Honor the charge they made! Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
[Footnote: For the story of the Crimean War, consult "Encyclopedia
Britannica", Vol. VIII., p. 366; also Vol. XVII., pp. 228 and 486.]

IV.
CANDOR.
MEMORY GEMS.
Truth lies at the bottom of the well.--Old Proverb
Candor looks with equal fairness at both sides of a subject. --Noah
Webster
Daylight and truth meet us with clear dawn.--Milton
Perfect openness is the only principle on which a